Vote for your favorite career sites

The Golden Globes are behind us and the Academy Awards lie ahead, which brings me to this question: Which websites would you like to see walk away winners in the About.com Job Search Readers' Choice Awards 2013? Alison Doyle, About.com's job searching guide, tipped me off to the awards that showcase the best job and career websites and apps for job seekers and career changers.

You can vote in eight categories of awards, and voting is free. Tip: Don't try to stuff the ballot box because the judges know all those tricks. The categories are as follows:

•Best Job Site

•Best Job Site for Students

•Best Career Networking Site

•Best Site for Company Information

•Best Résumé Site

•Best Salary Site

•Best Facebook App for Job Searching

•Best Mobile App for Job Searching

There are two rounds of voting:

(1) Nominate your favorites so they have an opportunity to be considered as finalists. You must vote in the nomination round by Feb. 11.

(2) Pick a winner from announced finalists in each category. You must vote in the winner round by March 19.

Winners will be announced on March 27. Winners in each category will receive a badge award to place on their website or app — “Readers' Choice 2013 About.com Awards” — and, of course, bragging rights.

Visit the official page (http://goo.gl/FwYCy) and cast your votes.

QWe are parents of a 20-year-old sometimes college student who doesn't seem able to get started in life. A friend suggested our son consider joining AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps. Do you agree this would be a good idea if our son is interested in participating in a service corps? — S.S.R.

AI do. And no less a luminary than Walter Isaacson thinks so, too. The famous biographer of high achievers ranging from Steve Jobs to Benjamin Franklin to Albert Einstein explained his take on a service-oriented approach to careers and life:

“If everybody could come out of college — or be career-ready coming out of high school — and serve in the military, or a teacher corps, or a health corps or something like that for one or two years, then they'd be really prepared for the workforce.”

Isaacson is CEO of the Aspen Institute, an international nonprofit committed to actionable ideas and solutions.

Begin looking for options at AmeriCorps.com. Additionally, search for “U.S. and state youth service corps.”

QI'm a single mom of a 16-year-old son with a disability. I'm very concerned about his future now that he's getting old enough to work. In addition to suggestions from his wonderful rehabilitation counselor, what are your thoughts about preparing for his future? — L.A.V.

AYour request is well timed. The federal Labor Department is launching The Campaign for Disability Employment to encourage kids with disabilities to pursue career aspirations, as well as to help employers make workplaces more welcoming and accessible for adults with disabilities.

The campaign is a collaborative effort between several organizations that are working to raise awareness and change attitudes about disability and employment, including the American Association of People with Disabilities, the National Business and Disability Council, the Job Accommodation Network, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Human Resource Management, the Special Olympics and the U.S. Business Leadership Network.

For more information on the federal government's work to help people with disabilities develop skills to pay the bills, check out the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy at dol.gov/odep. For more information about the new campaign, visit the “What Can You Do?” website (whatcanyoudocampaign.org). “Because” is an inspirational video featuring people with disabilities who are realizing their goals.

Email career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com; use “Reader Question” for subject line. Or mail her at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007.